The invention relates to an adapter for supporting cannulas, such as those used for liposuction surgery and needles, and for attaching such a cannula or needle to a plastic syringe barrel with a Luer taper or other tip styles such as toomey, feeding, eccentric, etc.
Many syringes that are in use today for various medical or clinical purposes are designed without a needle permanently attached. In such syringes, the syringe barrel may be tapered at its distal end so that a female connector of a needle assembly may be attached thereto. One widely known connection of this kind is the LUER-LOK connection which allows the needle to be readily attached to the syringe by a twisting movement. The LUER-LOK attachment of a needle to a syringe barrel is advantageous inasmuch as different size needles may be attached to a particular syringe barrel. Other syringe barrels have a tapered nose which is referred to as a Luer taper coupling. The prior syringe needle connecting techniques have an inherent weakness which is a severe disadvantage when large amounts of force, especially forces transverse to the cannula axis, are applied during use of the syringe. During liposuction surgery or during harvesting of bone marrow or the like, surgeons vigorously manipulate a liposuction handle or a syringe barrel to apply large longitudinal transverse, and twisting forces to a cannula in order to loosen fat cells or other cells before they can be suctioned through the cannula. The prior Luer or LUER-LOK connections are subJect to breakage, resulting in exposure of the suctioned cells to air, possibly causing leakage of harvested cells around the syringe adapter connection and contamination thereof by foreign substances present on the outer surface of the syringe, and possibly also causing punctures in surgical gloves during attempts to attach or remove the Luer or slip needles.
In the LUER-LOK connection, the collar expands slightly when a cannula or syringe needle is twisted in the usual fashion to engage the collar. This expansion increases the likelihood of leakage and contamination of liquid being either injected or harvested. There have been instances in which blood being withdrawn by a LUER-LOK syringe has leaked and come in contact with the skin or eyes of attending medical personnel, subjecting them to a possibility of contacting AIDS.
In spite of the popularity of the Luer and LUER-LOK connections, there remains an unmet need for a much more contamination resistent, leakproof, airtight, rigid cannula-to-syringe barrel or cannula-to-liposuction handle adapter having far greater rigidity than previously has been possible.
When harvesting fat cells for manufacture of autologous collagen to be reinjected in the same patient for eliminating wrinkles, it is necessary for the surgeon to be able to control the amount of vacuum in the syringe barrel to avoid damage to harvested fat cells.
There frequently is a need to transfer withdrawn body fluids from a withdrawing syringe into another syringe for reinjection, as many times fluids are withdrawn in a large syringe but reinjection is done with a smaller syringe or syringes. Transfer from one syringe to another may be subject to contamination.